The Cost of A Mistake...

Detective Hare assists Cop Fox in finding the killer...

'It was half past six in the evening when the police arrived at the crime scene. The bakery was surrounded by a crowd of journalists and people from the town. Cop Fox and his team were quick to enter and seal the crime scene, telling the journalists to clear away. The staff was pale and seemed frozen with fear, the two corpses lay blood covered on the flat. Fox knew one of them very well as he's been a customer of this bakery; it was the 35 year old baker. But I was most surprised when his partner told him who the other dead person was, so this was the reason of all the press surrounding the bakery.

“Mr. Eagle…” Cop Fox repeated. His brows were knitted together as he stared at the mutilated corpse of the former tenant of the town.

“Yes Fox… Eagle.” I sighed, placing a hand of comfort on his shoulder. “That’s the 5th murder this week.”

“Antler, Beaver, Croc, Deer, and now Eagle? Why… what could such honest people have done to deserve such a gruesome death…” Cop shook his head. His best officer, Grasshopper came up to him and whispered something, prompting Fox to follow him to the squad car.

I took this opportunity to observe the scene myself.

The bakery was ransacked, baked goods strewn across the floor, blood puddles where the corpses laid, and the large glass window shattered with the glass all over the inside of the store. The storage of the bakery door where the baker laid was open, and the cash register was untouched.

As I traversed the shelves, I noticed something. Where Mr. Eagle laid, his neck was cut open, his basket was on the floor, untouched. It had bagels, sweet rolls, and whole wheat bread, but if I were to reconstruct the scene, to where he was standing before he fell over dead, the shelf he would be standing in front of was empty. I looked closer at the selection and it read “Muffins.”

I finally had the clues I needed. I figured out how the murder did it this time. All I needed, was to figure out who did it.

I walked outside, searching the flashing lights for the one person I needed to talk to.

“Cop Fox!” I yelled out, catching the attention of the ginger haired officer. He had a grim look on his face as he trudged to where I stood.

“Yes Hare?” He responded. “Did you figure something out?”

I nodded. “But tell me, who called in the scene?”

Cop Fox scratched the back of his head, and he pursed his lips, deep in thought. “Officer Grasshopper did. He was on patrol at this area.”

“Grasshopper did it. It was obvious this time, although, I think you should stay away from him.” I warned.

“I can’t do that. You know we’re going to have to bring him in for questioning.” He frowned, shaking his head.

“Yeah, but him being the ‘Alphabet Killer,’ you are next.”

Grasshopper sat in the chair of the interrogation table, across from him sat Cop Fox, I stood in the corner of the room. The stale air and silence made this whole thing uncomfortable. I knew there were others watching from the two way mirror, but I felt uneasy all the same.

“Grasshopper. You were the only one who could have done it.” I started, but already, he opened his mouth in defiance.

“Yeah right, the murderer could have ran away.”

“Let me finish. You were the only one. You were driving down that path alone. Cop Fox trusted you enough to let you lead solo patrols. Because of that, no one can give you an alibi. In the bakery, Mr. Eagle was shopping, and he was in the mood for muffins. When he noticed there was no muffins, he asked the baker to check if he had some more. So when the baker went into the storage to check, Grasshopper ran out of the car, jumped through the glass window, and killed Mr. Eagle using the police knife he was issued. Grasshopper wanted to make the scene look like a failed robbery, so he ransacked the room. Hearing all the noise, the baker came out into the shop to find Grasshopper. Before the baker could react, Grasshopper was all over him, killing him just like he did Mr. Eagle. You see, Mr. Eagle was supposed to be the main target, the baker was an unfortunate witness. Once the baker was killed, Grasshopper ran out to his car and called you guys.” I finished.

Grasshopper was wide eyed. “That’s stupid! You can’t possibly believe him!”

“Take him away.” Cop Fox sighed. “I’m sorry Grasshopper, but what Hare said makes sense.”

Grasshopper was still yelling in defiance as two officers came in and arrested him. Stripping him of his badge, uniform and weapons. Cop Fox thanked me and left.

But as I walked out, I noticed something that would haunt me forever. The police never did carry knives. But surely, he could have just used another knife right? A small mistake surely.

3 days later, I received a phone call, saying that Cop Fox was dead, and so was Grasshopper. Both murdered. Cop Fox in his home, and Grasshopper in his cell. I had been wrong. Grasshopper wasn’t the killer. This was not good. I needed to go and see their crime scenes.

I shouldered my brown trench coat, and was about to head to the door when I heard a loud knock sound on the door. “Detective Hare?” A voice rang out.

I sighed, not expecting anyone to have visited me at this time of the night. As I walked to the door, I recounted the names in my head.

“Antler, Beaver, Croc, Deer, Eagle, Fox, Grasshopper… H-”

Author's Note

Contest entry for the "Complete this short story" Contest.